The USSR and Nazi Germany sign a non-aggression pact with a secret protocol on spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.
Nazi Germany breaks the pact and attacks the Soviet Union along a broad front, marking the beginning of the Eastern Front.
German and Finnish troops surround Leningrad, leading to one of the longest and deadliest sieges in history.
The Soviets withstand the German advance on the capital and repel a major German offensive for the first time.
One of the bloodiest battles in history ends in a decisive Soviet victory and turning point in the war.
The largest tank battle in history definitively breaks Germany's offensive capability on the Eastern Front.
After 872 days, the city of Leningrad is finally freed from the German encirclement.
A massive Soviet offensive drives the German armies out of Belarus and destroys Army Group Centre.
The Soviet army reaches the eastern bank of the Vistula, while a large-scale uprising against the German occupiers breaks out in Warsaw.
The Red Army advances through Romania and Bulgaria and supports the liberation of Belgrade, bringing most of the Balkans out of German hands.
A massive Soviet offensive through Poland toward Germany, resulting in the liberation of Warsaw and a rapid advance to the Oder.
The Red Army storms the German capital in the last major battle of the war in Europe.
Nazi Germany surrenders unconditionally, marking the end of the Great Patriotic War.
The Soviet Union celebrates the victory over Nazi Germany with a grand military parade in Moscow.
The USSR opens the eastern front against Japan and invades Manchuria, in line with the agreements of Yalta.
On 8 August 1945, exactly three months after the German capitulation as promised to the Allies during the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. A day later the Red Army began the massive Operation August Storm, in which more than a million Soviet soldiers, supported by tanks and air power, attacked the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria. This swift and overwhelming campaign contributed to the eventual Japanese surrender and strengthened Soviet influence in East Asia, with consequences for the later Cold War in the region.